Gateco Python SDK
Official Python client for the Gateco API β permission-aware retrieval for AI systems.

The problem it solves
Without Gateco, when an employee asks your AI assistant "What is the CEO's salary?",
the RAG pipeline returns the salary from a leaked HR document.
With Gateco:
from gateco_sdk import GatecoClient
client = GatecoClient("https://api.gateco.ai")
client.login("you@yourco.com", "...")
result = client.retrievals.execute(
query="What is the CEO's salary?",
principal_id="user_james_wu",
connector_id="connector_hr_docs",
search_mode="hybrid",
)
Gateco sits between your AI agent and your vector store. Every retrieval is evaluated against
your access policies before any content reaches the model.
Installation
For MCP server support (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.):
Authentication
Gateco API keys use the format gck_<env>_<random> (e.g. gck_live_abc123...).
Generate keys via the dashboard or via client.api_keys.create(name="my-service").
from gateco_sdk import AsyncGatecoClient, GatecoClient
client = AsyncGatecoClient("https://api.gateco.ai", api_key="gck_live_abc123...")
client = GatecoClient("https://api.gateco.ai", api_key="gck_live_abc123...")
client = GatecoClient("https://api.gateco.ai")
client.login("user@example.com", "password")
The API key is sent as the X-API-Key header on every request. Set it via the
GATECO_API_KEY environment variable when using the CLI or MCP server. The key takes
precedence over a stored login.
No credential at all? Since 1.13.0 a client constructed with no api_key, no
GATECO_API_KEY and no access_token reads the session that gateco login stored in
~/.gateco/credentials.json (and its base_url), and writes refreshed tokens back. One
login on a machine serves the CLI, the MCP server and your own scripts; do not copy the
file between machines, because refresh rotates and the two copies would revoke each other.
Which routes accept an API key
A key carries explicit scopes, chosen when it is created (Settings > API Keys, every plan).
Everything not listed here needs a user session (gateco login or client.login(...));
a key sent there gets 401 AUTH_JWT_REQUIRED, and a key without the needed scope gets
403 API_KEY_SCOPE_MISSING.
| Scope | Routes |
|---|
retrieve | POST /api/retrievals/execute, POST /api/retrievals/filter, POST /api/answers/execute, GET /api/principals, GET /api/principals/:id, POST /api/principals/resolve, GET /api/groups (since 2026-10-02), GET /api/connectors (id, name, type, status) |
ingest | POST /api/v1/ingest, /batch, /file, /files, DELETE /api/v1/resources/:id, /api/v1/ingest/jobs* |
relationships | POST, GET, DELETE /api/relationships |
principals | POST, PATCH, DELETE /api/principals (local directory) |
| any key | GET /api/users/me (reports the key's name and scopes) |
Session only: policies, connector create/update/delete and their search and ingestion
configs, identity providers, API-key management, audit, retrieval history, billing,
the access simulator, classification suggestions.
Quick Start
Async (recommended for production services)
import asyncio
from gateco_sdk import AsyncGatecoClient
async def main():
async with AsyncGatecoClient(
"https://api.gateco.ai",
api_key="gck_live_abc123...",
) as client:
result = await client.retrievals.execute(
query="What is the CEO's salary?",
principal_id="user_james_wu",
connector_id="connector_hr_docs",
search_mode="hybrid",
alpha=0.7,
top_k=5,
)
for chunk in result.allowed_chunks:
print(f"[ALLOWED] {chunk.resource_id} score={chunk.score}")
print(f"Denied: {result.denied_count} chunk(s)")
asyncio.run(main())
Synchronous (scripts and notebooks)
from gateco_sdk import GatecoClient
with GatecoClient("https://api.gateco.ai", api_key="gck_live_abc123...") as client:
result = client.retrievals.execute(
query="What is the CEO's salary?",
principal_id="user_james_wu",
connector_id="connector_hr_docs",
search_mode="hybrid",
)
print(result.decision)
Available Namespaces
Every namespace, and every method on it, is available on both AsyncGatecoClient (async) and GatecoClient (sync); tests/test_sync_parity.py fails the build if the two drift.
| Namespace | Description |
|---|
client.answers | Grounded answer synthesis with policy-filtered citations (Team+) |
client.api_keys | Create, list, delete, and rotate API keys |
client.audit | Audit log listing and CSV export |
client.auth | Login, signup, token refresh, logout |
client.billing | Plans, usage meters, invoices, subscription, Stripe checkout and portal |
client.connectors | Connector CRUD, connection testing, search/ingestion config, coverage, classification suggestions |
client.dashboard | Aggregated dashboard statistics with optional sparklines |
client.data_catalog | Gated resource listing and metadata updates |
client.groups | Read-only groups directory with live member counts |
client.identity_providers | Identity provider CRUD and sync (Okta, Azure Entra ID, AWS IAM, GCP) |
client.ingest | Single-document, batch, and file ingestion (Tier 1 connectors) |
client.onboarding | Onboarding status (6 computed steps) and checklist dismissal |
client.pipelines | Pipeline CRUD and run management |
client.policies | Policy CRUD, lifecycle (activate/archive), and templates |
client.principals | Principal listing, detail, and resolution by email or provider subject |
client.relationships | REBAC direct-relation CRUD β create, list, delete 1-hop tuples (Team+) |
client.retroactive | Retroactive vector registration for existing connectors |
client.retrievals | Permission-gated retrieval execution, policy filter, and history |
client.simulator | Dry-run, live-preview, and batch-preview access simulation (Growth+) |
client.sources | Content-source connections (Drive, SharePoint, Confluence, Notion): create, test, ACL coverage |
client.users | Current user profile β get_me(), update_me(name) |
Retrieval Search Modes
result = await client.retrievals.execute(
query="quarterly earnings", principal_id="...", connector_id="...",
)
result = await client.retrievals.execute(
query="quarterly earnings", principal_id="...", connector_id="...",
search_mode="keyword",
)
result = await client.retrievals.execute(
query="quarterly earnings", principal_id="...", connector_id="...",
search_mode="hybrid",
alpha=0.5,
)
result = await client.retrievals.execute(
query="ERR-4021", principal_id="...", connector_id="...",
search_mode="grep",
pattern_type="regex",
case_sensitive=False,
)
API Key Management
key_info = await client.api_keys.create(name="prod-worker")
print(key_info["key"])
print(key_info["prefix"])
keys = await client.api_keys.list()
new_key = await client.api_keys.rotate(key_id="key-uuid-here")
await client.api_keys.delete(key_id="key-uuid-here")
Relationship-Based Access Control (REBAC)
rel = await client.relationships.create(
subject_principal_id="principal-uuid",
relation_name="owner_of",
object_resource_id="resource-uuid",
)
print(rel["id"])
rels = await client.relationships.list(
subject_id="principal-uuid",
relation="owner_of",
)
await client.relationships.delete(relationship_id=rel["id"])
Use relation.<name> as a policy condition field to gate access on the existence of a tuple:
rule = {"field": "relation.owner_of", "operator": "eq", "value": True}
Onboarding Status
status = await client.onboarding.status()
for step in status["steps"]:
print(f"{step['name']:30s} {step['status']}")
await client.onboarding.dismiss()
Principal Resolution
principal = await client.principals.resolve(email="alice@company.com")
principal = await client.principals.resolve(provider_subject="okta-user-123")
principal = await client.principals.resolve(
email="alice@company.com",
identity_provider_id="idp-uuid-here",
)
Grounded Answer Synthesis (Team+)
answer = await client.answers.execute(
query="Summarise the Q4 revenue results.",
principal_id="user_alice",
connector_id="connector_finance_docs",
search_mode="hybrid",
)
print(answer.answer_text)
print(answer.outcome)
for citation in answer.citations:
print(f" [{citation.score:.2f}] {citation.resource_id}")
Policy Creation
policy = await client.policies.create(
name="Engineering read-only",
description="Allow engineering group to read internal resources",
type="rbac",
effect="allow",
rules=[{
"description": "Engineering group members",
"effect": "allow",
"conditions": [{"field": "principal.groups", "operator": "contains", "value": "engineering"}],
"priority": 1,
}],
resource_selectors=[{"field": "resource.classification", "op": "lte", "value": "internal"}],
)
Policy validation rules:
- Condition fields must use
resource., principal., or relation. prefix.
Bare field names (e.g., "classification") are rejected with 422 β they silently
resolve against the principal rather than the resource.
- Policies with empty
resource_selectors require apply_to_all_resources=True in
the request body to opt into matching all resources explicitly.
Retrieval Diagnostics
result = await client.retrievals.execute(
query="quarterly earnings",
principal_id="user_alice",
connector_id="connector_finance_docs",
search_mode="hybrid",
)
print(result.diagnostics.outcome_detail)
print(result.diagnostics.candidates_fetched)
print(result.diagnostics.candidates_denied)
print(result.diagnostics.refill_rounds)
Connector Preflight Check
preflight = client.connectors.preflight(connector_id="...")
print(preflight.ready_for_production)
print(preflight.recommendation)
for check in preflight.checks:
print(f"{check.name}: {'PASS' if check.passed else 'FAIL'} (blocking={check.blocking})")
Dashboard Activation Metrics
stats = await client.dashboard.stats()
print(stats["total_retrievals"])
print(stats["allowed_retrievals"])
activation = client.dashboard.get_activation_stats()
print(activation.total_retrievals_30d)
print(activation.allowed_retrievals_30d)
print(activation.no_access_retrievals_30d)
print(activation.p95_latency_ms)
List endpoints return a Page object. Use list_all() for automatic async pagination:
async for connector in client.connectors.list_all():
print(connector.name)
Rate Limits
Three endpoints enforce per-org-per-minute limits:
| Endpoint | Limit |
|---|
POST /api/retrievals/execute | 60/min |
POST /api/answers/execute | 20/min |
POST /api/simulator/preview | 10/min |
Exceeded limits raise RateLimitError. The SDK retries automatically with exponential backoff (configurable via max_retries). Limits are org-scoped and reset on process restart (in-memory implementation).
Error Handling
from gateco_sdk.errors import NotFoundError, RateLimitError, AuthenticationError
try:
conn = await client.connectors.get("nonexistent-id")
except NotFoundError:
print("Connector not found")
except RateLimitError as e:
print(f"Rate limited β retry after {e.retry_after}s")
except AuthenticationError:
print("Invalid or expired credentials")
CLI
The gateco command is installed with the SDK and uses the same credentials.
gateco login --email admin@company.com
gateco whoami
gateco connectors list
gateco connectors get <connector_id>
gateco connectors get-search-config <connector_id>
gateco connectors set-search-config <connector_id> --json '{"table_name": "docs", "vector_column": "embedding", "content_column": "text"}'
gateco connectors get-ingestion-config <connector_id>
gateco connectors set-ingestion-config <connector_id> --file ingestion.json
gateco ingest report.txt --connector-id <id> --classification confidential --sensitivity high
gateco ingest "Q3 board deck.pdf" --connector-id <id> --classification confidential --sensitivity high --domain finance
gateco ingest-batch ./documents --connector-id <id> --glob "*.md"
gateco retrieve --connector-id <id> --principal-id <id> --query "revenue report" --search-mode hybrid
--classification accepts public, internal, confidential, restricted;
--sensitivity accepts low, medium, high, critical (gateco ingest --help lists them).
MCP Server (Model Context Protocol)
The optional MCP server lets AI agents (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.) perform
permission-aware retrieval without any custom code.
pip install gateco[mcp]
gateco mcp serve
gateco-mcp
Claude Desktop Configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"gateco": {
"command": "gateco-mcp",
"env": {
"GATECO_API_KEY": "gck_live_abc123...",
"GATECO_BASE_URL": "https://api.gateco.ai"
}
}
}
}
| Tool | Description |
|---|
gateco_retrieve | Permission-aware retrieval (vector/keyword/hybrid/grep) |
gateco_ask | Grounded answer synthesis with search modes (Team+) |
gateco_check_access | Dry-run access simulation (Growth+). User session only (gateco login); not callable with an API key |
gateco_list_connectors | List connectors with readiness levels |
gateco_list_principals | List identity principals |
gateco_list_groups | List groups (IdP-synced and local directory) with live member counts. Works with a retrieve-scoped key against a backend from 2026-10-02 on; older backends answer that a user session is needed |
gateco_resolve_principal | Resolve a principal by email or provider subject |
All tools return markdown-formatted text. Denied content is never exposed β only denial
reasons and counts are shown.
Development
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest -v
pytest tests/test_mcp/ -v
pytest --cov=src/gateco_sdk
Links